Hailing from Leicester, Blood Oath are rapidly becoming a death metal institution. Formed with the intention of gaining a coveted slot at Bloodstock festival, the band achieved their aim on the second attempt (having hacked and slashed a path to the finals the first time round), and, with tracks like Fury and fire, the band just felt like a natural fit at the UK’s biggest metal party. It’s been some little while since Blood Oath’s well-received Kingdom of Dead Souls debut and it has been time not idly spent, the band honing their skills on live stages up and down the country (not to mention a stint at a European festival, just for good measure), with the result that they sound even tighter and more focused this time out.
Opening with a slow-paced, scene-setting intro, Angels To Some sees Blood Oath taking their time, building a suitably grandiose atmosphere before unleashing a thrash-infused shockwave that recalls Seasons-era Slayer. It’s a powerful, well-stated opener and, with its clarion call of “we have such sights to show you” (the sort of statement that Dimmu Borgir have made their theatrical stock-in-trade), Blood Oath are back with a bigger, bolder sound and a bucket load of aggression to air. Having thoroughly made their presence felt, Blood Oath’s difficult task is maintaining the powerful atmosphere they have conjured. Fortunately, the scything riff of Obliteration Ov Mankind (underpinned by Adrian McGlennon’s punishingly tight percussion) proves up to the task and with ‘Thrax exercising a vocal approach so soaked in vitriol, it’s remarkable it doesn’t erode the speaker cones, it’s clear that Blood Oath are on something of a roll. Built around a monolithic riff of gargantuan proportions, Infernum Diabolus shows that Blood Oath can slow the pace without sacrificing any of their ferocious power, guitarists Frazer and Mike trading riffs before heading into a grnarly, head-down groove easily up there with the best of Kataklysm’s deathly assaults. Presumably named after Thrax’s full-moon exploits spent roaming the Leicestershire countryside, Lycanthropic bloodlust offers a touch of doom in its introduction, before taking a left-field turn into full-bore thrash, ‘Thrax delivering a more nuanced and theatrical vocal style than seen previously. It paves the way neatly for the stunning monuments to our ruin, an impressive showcase for the musicianship on offer within the band and, thanks to its opening chant of “we will rise”, an anthemic beast reminiscent of vintage Arch Enemy.
With the album flying past at an intense pace, born godless is a short, sharp jolt to the system delivered with unparalleled venom by ‘Thrax, who grinds out the lyrics from between gritted and splintering teeth. Sweeping through the album like a toxic emission, the straight-up death metal of Howling Of The Draugr is a potent and dangerously unhinged whirlwind of snatched riffs and subterranean bass (take a bow, Bill Fordham), once more given vital thrust by Adrian’s laser-precise percussive blasts. A lengthy beast, Howling… also allows space for some of the album’s most doom-laden lead work, the juxtaposition of seething speed and stately decay perfectly employed to maximise the song’s impact. Opening with a gnarly bass run, Entwined And Un-Divine keeps the adrenaline coursing through the veins, even with the album nearing its end, and it leaves only Solitude And The Silence to bring things to a cataclysmically (and kataklysmically) brutal conclusion. A chillingly thrilling finale, Solitude And The Silence pretty much sums up Blood Oath’s appeal in one, monstrously savage bloodletting and it is exactly the death metal epic its creators imagine it to be.
Blood Oath have no desire to reinvent the wheel, their passion for death metal worn proudly on their battle dress for all to see. Instead, the band have focussed on deftly synthesising their influences into a ferociously tight set of nine, epic songs, each one crushing in its intent and flawless in execution. Aided by a sterling production (courtesy of Initiate Audio And Media), not a moment is wasted across the nine tracks on offer. An impressive step up from an already impressive debut (as anyone who heard Kingdom Of Dead Souls can attest), Infernum Rex Diabolous can proudly rub shoulders with any of the bands Blood Oath would consider as influences. 9/10
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